Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Dick Johnson Is Dead’ On Netflix, A Breathtaking Documentary About A Filmmaker Facing Her Father’s Inevitable Death

When death begins to loom, people make various preparations; finalizing wills, planning funerals, notifying loved ones. What if, though, you could take matters into their own hands? Face inevitable death your own way? That’s exactly what Kirsten Johnson does when her father’s health begins to decline in Dick Johnson is Dead, now streaming on Netflix. The unique documentary sees Dick suffer a series of imaginary deaths with the help of a good-humored film crew, but it is also a love letter from a daughter to a father. And one of the best films of the year.

DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: When filmmaker Kirsten Johnson found out her father Dick had dementia, she did what anyone else would do: she decided to make a film about his impending death. Johnson teamed up with her retired psychiatrist dad, their family, friends, and a crew of stuntmen and performers to create something totally remarkable, a film rife with dark humor and profound observations about the nature of life and death. We first meet Dick as he watches his grandchildren take turns on a swing, and finally slips and falls on some straw after his daughter warns him off-camera to be careful. He puts on quite the show for the grandkids, milking his fall with dramatic flourish and eliciting many a giggle from them. Kirsten’s voiceover introduces us to this warm, immediately likable human: “Just the idea that I might ever lose this man is too much to bear,” she says. “He’s my dad.”

For the next hour and a half, Kirsten shows us just why his loss is such an unbearable notion. Before long, it’s like we know Dick ourselves. Each strange death incident – an air conditioner falling on his head, falling down the stairs and landing in a grotesquely contorted position, bleeding out on a New York street after a construction worker hits him in the neck with a beam, etc – is a jarring, morbidly funny event, cutting into what may be a more serious or emotional moment to provide some levity (though admittedly existential levity). Dick climbs into a coffin and plays dead at his own fake funeral in one scene, and tearfully reminisces about his late wife in another. He dips his finger into a chocolate fountain in heaven, then struggles to complete memory exercises at the doctor’s office. We’re simultaneously watching someone fade away and enjoy a confetti-covered dance party, which might just sum up the film perfectly. It’s a dazzling and wrenching examination of life and death, an act of preservation. And it’s unlike anything else out there.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: If you’re a fan of personal documentaries like Stories We Tell, Tarnation, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (though obviously without the added crime element), and even Johnson’s previous work Cameraperson, Dick Johnson is Dead will be right up your alley. It manages to seamlessly combine elements from different forms of storytelling and create a singular work in the process.

Performance Worth Watching: I generally might not highlight a documentary performance, but in this case, you gotta hand it to Dick for pulling off so many macabre scenarios. He really commits to dying on screen and enacting whatever fantasies his daughter dreamed up.

Memorable Dialogue: There are so many profound things said over the course of Dick Johnson is Dead‘s 90 minutes, but I found myself particularly moved by something Kirsten remembers her father saying often: “I’ve got my heaven,” he would say. “Right here on earth. With all of you.” It perfectly speaks to the film’s spirit, to the notion of celebrating someone and sharing love with them while they’re still here to experience it.

Single Best Shot: The heaven sequences – in which Dick is surrounded by cardboard cutouts of his late wife and historical and religious figures, and indulges in a chocolate fountain, popcorn flying through the air, and more – were the most visually delightful to me. These scenes serve as such a nice contrast to the day-to-day footage and death scenes, and the dreamy sets, falling confetti, and use of slow motion were a perfect combination. This image in particular – Dick’s reaction to finally having the feet he always wanted – might just be my favorite shot in the film.

Our Take: Having unexpectedly lost my own father this summer, I was nervous about how Dick Johnson is Dead might affect me. And boy, did it – but it was worth it. Kirsten Johnson’s film is a unique reckoning with death, a celebration of life, an exercise in slapstick comedy, an immensely affectionate love letter to her dad. It’s rife with humanity and vulnerability, which is what makes it so unique. So few people are willing to lay their hearts bare on screen the way Johnson does here, but she does, walking hand in hand with her father in the process. His willingness to embrace whatever kooky things Kirsten has dreamed up only further speaks to the man she tells us he is in the very beginning of the film; she doesn’t have to say anymore. He shows us who he is in every frame, demonstrates just why this loss will be so difficult to endure.

There isn’t a single moment of the film that doesn’t feel necessary or important, and I found myself particularly moved by the quieter moments; shots of Dick sleeping in his favorite chair, on couches, in the coffin for his fake funeral. These little displays of affection from his daughter are what make the film so essentially human; he’s not just the larger-than-life character who participates in his daughter’s schemes, but a loving father, an aging man, an individual who loves his rest, doesn’t want to sell his car, and is gutted over losing his memory the same way his late wife did. We get to know all his quirks (those naps), his indulgences (chocolate cake), and his insecurities (his feet). We get to know how fiercely he loves his children, his friends, his alphabet soup and red wine. We understand why Kirsten loves him, because we learn to love him, too.

By the end of the film, during the staging of his fake funeral, I had totally lost it. I cried the hardest I have since my dad died in June, utterly overwhelmed by the love shown to Dick as he entered the room following the proceedings, brought to tears by Dick’s own tears, by imagining all the things going through Kirsten’s mind, too. I briefly felt bitter because I never had the chance to say goodbye to my dad, but it was fleeting, because in a strange way, Dick Johnson is Dead allowed me to imagine all the ways I might have bid my father farewell, and helped me to reframe what death and loss mean. It reminded me of how powerful love can be, of what it means to wear your heart on your sleeve and celebrate people even when it hurts, and how much time we waste when we avoid talking about and facing death. In the film’s final scene, as Kirsten records herself speaking different variations of “Dick Johnson is dead” and eventually exits a closet to hug her still-living father, I found myself once again unable to complete many full breaths. I yearned for a goodbye of my own, but I also felt such love and appreciation for what Kirsten was doing – simultaneously facing what most people fear most, and broadcasting a PSA for those who are unwilling to consider mortality. Kirsten Johnson confronts death and keeps unwavering eye contact, cracking jokes and crying openly in the process. We should all be so brave.

“We all carry our parents in us, right?” Kirsten asks. Dick Johnson’s mind may go, and eventually his body will, too, but Kirsten will always carry him in her, just like I carry my dad with me everywhere; in my stubbornness, in my relentlessly dumb jokes, in my love of afternoon naps and action movies and the simple pleasure of a cold beer in a hot tub. Dick Johnson is Dead will eternally exist as a tribute to a man who meant so much to so many people, and a father whose daughter loved him so much, she faced her worst fear: losing him. In killing her father over and over again, Kirsten Johnson is, in a way, able to keep him alive forever. And the result is a film we’ll be talking about long after he’s left this world.

Our Call: STREAM IT. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it. Laugh, cry, and enjoy a slice of chocolate cake. It’s what Dick would do.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Stream Dick Johnson Is Dead on Netflix